Car in Brazil hits pilgrims; 7 dead

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - A car plowed into pilgrims heading to a religious procession in northeastern Brazil early Monday, killing seven people, police said. Four other people _ including the driver _ were injured in the accident in Paulista, a suburb of the coastal city of Recife, said a spokesman with the federal highway patrol who would not provide his full name in line with department policy. The spokesman said it was not yet known whether the driver was drunk, as local media reports suggested, or simply lost control of his car.
The accident happened shortly after midnight as more than 20 people walked alongside a road to the annual religious procession for Our Lady of Conception, the patron saint of Brazil. Large religious processions go to Paulista's statue of the Virgin Mary and a nearby chapel every Dec. 8, the day of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary on the Catholic calendar.